www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 2 February 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: A STUDY OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF FILIPINA LEADERS IN THE STATE OF QATAR 1Monaliza P. Cayatoc, MAG, RGC, 2Mia Irish J. Coquilla, 3Althea Isabel M. Cacho, 4John Pherry A. Atienza, 5Jan Jerome R. Barcinas, 6Kyle Rjie P. Gascon, 7Mohammad Hamad B. Khan, 8Nguyen An Nguyen 1Faculty, 2Student, 3Student, 4Student, 5Student, 6Student, 7Student, 8Student 1Senior High School Department 1Philippine School Doha, Doha, Qatar Abstract: Background: Today's Filipinas have made their legacy in each of their endeavors. (Convergys Corp., 2018). For years, Filipina women have been considered people who stayed at home, namely, homemakers or those who cannot do masculine jobs. Method: This study is a qualitative research design, in which the method used to gather the data is by interviewing the participants selected by the researchers. The type of qualitative research used is a phenomenological approach. It is related to the central question "How do Filipina leaders employed in a Qatar-based company adapt to their work environment?". In line with our title, "Women Empowerment: A Study of the lived experiences of Filipina Leaders in the State of Qatar," the researchers chose Filipina leaders who are currently working and are employed in Qatar as their target respondents for the study. The conducting of this research follows the IMRAD format and aims to be published and reproduced easily. The researchers deemed the target respondents sufficient and knowledgeable for this study. As students currently studying in Philippine School Doha, the researchers' research will be respectfully conducted in the host country, Qatar. Findings have revealed that Filipina leaders have encountered many challenges and have shown the advantages and disadvantages of being a Filipina leader as discussed through work parity, work conformity, work impartiality, and work proclivity. Conclusion: Women 's leadership is about continuing to implement changes that promote women 's advancement within their organizations and businesses, resolve implicit bias problems, and inspire women and men to create solutions. Keywords: Leadership, Women Empowerment, Qatar-based Company, Workplace Discrimination, Lived Experiences, Phenomenological Approach INTRODUCTION History teaches that women have been viewed as inferior beings and second-class citizens in the past. We have been taught to see ourselves primarily in family relationships, particularly as mothers and wives, rather than as employees. Women were socialized to be obedient and respectful to authority, and they were taught to work only inside the boundaries of the house. They were marginalized and perceived to be cheaper commodities (Kottak, 2012; Shahani, 2015). Women have been largely excluded from leadership positions. A systematic study of encyclopedia entries released just after the twentieth century listed only around 850 eminent women over the last two thousand years. The rankings included queens, politicians, mothers, wives, and religious figures. None of these women had acquired positions of leadership on their own (Rhode, 2017). Women today have leadership in almost every aspect of the private and public sectors. Progress, however, is only partial. Women have a distinct perspective and ability to contribute. Workplaces need diverse backgrounds, experience, and leadership styles to be effective in an increasingly competitive and multicultural environment. Women are more likely than men to engage in direct, stressing inspiration and enabling followers to contribute to their organization. Formal and informal work by women can transform a community from a relatively autonomous society into a national economy participant. Leaders-centric behaviors have a detrimental effect on adopting reform for the Filipina leaders. Gran (2019) stated that we had witnessed an unprecedented increase in women's role in urban and rural labor in recent decades. Women usually do not alter drastically either in their working life or in their family life, or both. Women leaders also did not anticipate, request, or rely on their organizations to provide the help and assistance they needed. They felt that current work or family services centered on evolving needs and problems and assumed that they were responsible for addressing much of their own needs. According to research in career advancement, women have the same opportunities as men to advance the corporate ladder, particularly if women are engaged in the same occupations and are similar to men in their aspirations and abilities. IJCRT2102586 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org 4859 www.ijcrt.org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 2 February 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882 Women leadership involves promoting reforms that facilitate women's advancement within their organizations and corporations, address issues of unconscious bias, and empower both women and men to develop solutions. For women who have been able to obtain a leadership position, there are still inevitable challenges and sacrifices that they will have to make, such as the challenge of combining a career with family and dealing with unfair treatment in the workplace (Slaughter, 2012 cited by Caliper Research & Development Department, 2014). The research is scientifically relevant because it discusses the different work experiences, leadership styles, working methods, and competence of women leaders, which may benefit aspiring Filipino women. The researchers choose this study because they want to learn further how Filipina leaders in various industries survive despite gender inequality, despite getting paid less than men and experiencing poorer labor conditions, fewer prospects for advancement, and discrimination in the workplace. This study also helps people understand women leaders' lives and experience and how they deal with their duties as a leader and individual and addresses how Filipina leaders refer to women to work as leaders. The research further addresses the lack of women in top leadership and the unique challenges women face in the workplace compared to men. METHOD RESEARCH DESIGN This study is qualitative in alignment and firmly, a phenomenological research design. Qualitative research takes a linguistic, conceptual approach to its subject matter. Qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, trying to make the best out of them, or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. (Jones, Roger, 1995). In qualitative research, concern to assess quality has established itself in the increase of guidelines for doing and judging qualitative work, particularly in the leadership field of work. (Nicholas Mays, Catherine Pope, 2019) Qualitative research is in-depth research using various methods to understand why people reflect, feel, respond, and perform in the way they do. (Deborah Talbot, 2015). A phenomenological approach is engaged in this study to understand and gain new information through the respondents' experience and perceptions concerning Qatar's capability to have more Filipina leaders and change the country's perspective. RESEARCH LOCUS AND SAMPLE This study was conducted at the Philippine School Doha, the prominent Philippine school in Qatar. Philippine School Doha has always been known as an outstanding Philippine school in the Middle East. It has represented the Filipino community with distinction since October 1992. The selected respondents to this research were Filipina Leaders, who have been a leader and have served in Qatar for ten years or more. Identifying the six participants was made through a qualitative sampling methodology (Creswell and Plano, 2011; Bernard, 2002; Patton, 2002 as cited by Vallesteros, 2018. It is distinguished by the inclusion of specific criteria provided by the participants at the selection time (Padilla-Diaz, 2015). The respondents have been selected to recognize their profession and years of leadership in Qatar. After all, they believe their experiences are important because they have been a Qatar leader over the last ten years or more. Figure 1: Map of Qatar DATA COLLECTION AND ETHICAL COLLECTION The researchers acquired the data necessary for the study by utilizing questions used to interview the respondents. A validation letter and the developmental problems were sent out to three eligible Philippine School Doha teachers to ensure the validity and professionalism of the data gathering instrument. After which, a letter of consent was constructed to be given to the interviewees guaranteeing that they agree to the terms of the interview proper and that the confidentiality of their responses and identity are not infringed. Although the study was conducted in English, the researchers assured the respondents that they are free to use whichever language they are comfortable with in answering the questions. The researchers conducted a thorough analysis in transcribing the emic responses to the etic response. DATA ANALYSIS To further recognize the phenomenon under study, phenomenological data analysis is reflected in the research using these steps: (1) converting the interview responses from the interviewees' language or the emic perspective to the researchers' speech or the etic view. (Godina, Heriberto & McCoy, Rachelle (2000); (2) reading and revising of the transcribed data to improve the meanings of each response; (3) creating thought units for each answer; (4) organizing the same thought units into groups; (5) constructing